(New York) The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken again accused Beijing on Friday of supporting the “Russian war machine” in Ukraine during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, as the two rival powers try to stabilize a tumultuous relationship.
The US Secretary of State said he had expressed “our deep concern about China’s support for the Russian defense industry, which fuels the Russian war machine and perpetuates the war that China claims to want to wage.” a term”.
“We do not intend to seek to dissociate Russia from China,” continued Mr. Blinken during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Their relationship is their business, but to the extent that that relationship involves providing Russia with what it needs to prosecute this war, that’s a problem for us.
Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State
He cited as an example the fact that Chinese companies supply 70% of Russia’s machine tools and 90% of its electronic products.
Friday’s meeting comes days after US President Joe Biden said China was putting Asia and the United States “to the test” over its increasingly “aggressive” behavior, particularly at sea. of southern China and vis-à-vis Taiwan.
Beijing considers the island as one of its provinces and denounces Washington’s support for Taiwan, as well as the passage of American warships, and, for the first time this week, Japanese, through the Taiwan Strait.
High-level meetings are increasing between Chinese and Americans to ease tensions.
PHOTO HEATHER KHALIFA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi
Wang Yi and Antony Blinken, according to the latter, agreed on the “importance” of Chinese leaders Xi Jinping and American leaders Joe Biden being able to communicate with each other. He said he expected this to be the case in the “coming weeks”, although he did not confirm a date or format.
Their last interview dates back to April. But the two leaders could meet on the sidelines of summits in Brazil and Peru.
Despite their numerous differences, including commercial ones against a backdrop of American sanctions targeting Chinese electronics, Washington and Beijing cooperate in other areas such as the fight against synthetic drugs or the climate, noted Mr. Blinken.